Semester Exchanges Blog

My time in Nottingham has come to an end. I had a great semester exploring and meeting new people! I have learned so many new things and I can’t wait to take them with me and use them in my everyday life.

My time abroad has definitely made me become more of a global citizen. I have had the incredible opportunity to learn through a different method of teaching and experience new points of view. I really enjoyed the structure of the majority of my classes. We had no quizzes, homework assignments, or exams throughout the course of the semester. Instead we had one cumulative final essay that we had all semester to work on. However, for other classes that had final exams instead of an essay, this made learning the material more difficult. There was no way to check our understanding of the concepts being taught throughout the semester, so studying for a final was a daunting task.  Nevertheless, it was nice not having much work to do during the week and made for a less stressful semester. I definitely noticed that conducting business in England and Europe as a whole is a lot more laid back than in the U.S.

Hopefully, I will be able to take what I learned while abroad to my future work. It was nice having a good balance of work and free time. I spent a lot of my free time traveling and exploring England, and even other countries in Europe! Public transportation in Europe is very accessible and made traveling super easy. The people in Nottingham were very friendly and always surprised to meet an American, since it is not a very big city like London is. The only downside to England was the food. It definitely doesn’t hold a candle to American food, and made me have a greater appreciation for the food back home.

Overall I really enjoyed my semester abroad! I can’t wait to visit England again. I made great lifelong friends during my time in Nottingham, England and would definitely recommend doing a semester exchange to those considering it!

Wow this semester flew by and I can’t believe that it’s almost time for me to return home to the US. It was a great semester in Nottingham, England. I got to see so many different places, meet new people, and I learned so much during my time here.

This semester was a nice change of pace from my previous ones at A&M. As I explained in my first blog post, I didn’t have any weekly assignments or quizzes or regular exams. My grades are dependent on one final exam at the end of the semester, so I had a lot of time to relax. I love to read so I was able to finish quite a few books this semester. Another thing I did with my downtime was travel. I was able to visit London several times and I enjoyed exploring the city. London is only a two-hour train ride from Nottingham, so I was able to plan both day and weekend trips. I loved the city so much that I’m considering moving there for a few years after I graduate. It’s such a diverse and unique city and I think it would be a cool place to live for a bit.

One of the biggest lessons I learned while being here is the importance of balance. There is a saying that Americans live to work but Europeans work to live, and that is something I experienced firsthand during my semester abroad. Students are more concerned with living life and enjoying their time at university than they are with studying and grades. This was frustrating at times, but I gradually began to understand that having the mentality that school and grades are not the end all be all is not a bad thing. While I do believe that working hard is important, I now understand the significance of having a good school/life balance. Taking time to relax and enjoy the present moment is important. I was able to have a better school/life balance this semester and it was good for me. I hope I can maintain this balance during my last two semesters at A&M as well as carry it forward into my working career.

One thing I will not miss about England is the food. I’m sorry to say that English food is not very good. It’s very bland, everything is boiled, and I very quickly discovered that potatoes are served with every meal. It made me appreciate and enjoy the food I ate during my travels outside of England. I’m looking forward to getting some Chick-fil-a and some tacos upon my return to the US.

The end of this semester and the close of my study abroad trip are bittersweet. I am looking forward to going home and seeing my friends and family. But I will miss the friends that I made in Nottingham and the travel opportunities that this semester abroad provided me with. I had so much fun exploring England and traveling to other European countries as well. I am so grateful that I was able to study abroad this semester and that I was able to learn so many valuable life lessons during my time here. Goodbye for now, England. Hopefully, I will see you again soon!

I have been in Nottingham, UK for almost 2 weeks and so far I have been enjoying my time getting to see the city and country. Nottingham is in central England and is about 2 hours north of London. Nottingham is best known for its Sherwood Forest from Robin Hood and there are a lot of references to him throughout the city.

My first week in Nottingham was spent exploring the city and figuring out public transportation. Public transportation is a very popular way of getting around the city, whereas back home we usually drive everywhere. Here, there are trains, buses, trams, and taxis everywhere. Another alternative is to just walk! Everything in the city is fairly close together and getting around is quite easy.

Classes began this past week and I am noticing many differences between the US and the UK. The structure of classes is very different in England from what I’m used to in the US. For example, there are no homework assignments during the week and no quizzes or exams throughout the semester. Our grade for our courses, or as they call them here, modules, rely on one final at the end of the term. In my case, I have 3 essays and one exam for my 4 modules. Additionally, we have different class styles throughout the week instead of only having lectures. There are seminars and lectures. Seminars are more discussion-based than lectures are. We usually have lectures earlier in the week which are followed by seminars later in the week where we talk about what we learned in our lectures. This structure also causes my class schedule to change week to week because some modules don’t have seminars held every week.

I think that after a couple more weeks I will be able to acclimate and get more immersed in the culture. I am still getting used to my new environment, but I am very excited for my time here and I can’t wait to experience more!

I arrived in the UK a little over a week ago and after spending a few days in London, I moved into my dorm at the University of Nottingham. Nottingham is situated in Northern England (it’s about a two-hour train ride from London) and it’s much colder and windier than Texas. It’s the home of Sherwood Forest (as well as the legend of Robin Hood), Nottingham Castle, and the oldest pub in England. I’ve had a lot of fun exploring the city and learning about its history. The easiest way to travel between campus and the city center is via the bus/tram system. It took some trial and error to figure out how to use and navigate this system as I am used to driving pretty much everywhere back home. But I’m happy to say that I think I’ve got it mostly figured out and I love how convenient it is to take the bus and/or the tram. I’m grateful that I don’t have to drive anywhere as the English drive on the other side of the road. I just have to remind myself to look in the opposite direction than what I’m used to before crossing the street.

One thing I’m grateful for is the absence of a language barrier. However, it’s been interesting figuring out the different terms the English use. For instance, French fries are called chips in the UK and potato chips are called crisps. Classes are called modules and when you meet someone on campus, you don’t ask what their major is, you ask what course they’re taking.

My classes (or modules) started yesterday and I’m enjoying them so far. The school system is very different here. My class schedule changes almost every week which makes me miss the consistency of A&M’s class schedules. Also, I don’t have any weekly assignments, quizzes, or tests. My grade depends solely on a cumulative exam at the end of the semester. Because of this, I’ve had a lot of free time to explore both the campus and the city. I’ve also noticed that students tend to dress nicer for their classes (and just in general) than they do in the US. The University of Nottingham has a large population of international students so there are a lot of opportunities to meet people from different backgrounds as well as get involved in different organizations (which are called societies here).

I’m definitely still adjusting to life in a foreign country but I’m excited to be here! I’m looking forward to traveling around England and experiencing more of its culture during my semester abroad!

My name is James Miller, and I am a Management Information Systems Major from Burleson, Texas. I am currently taking part in a study abroad with the Business school at the University of Nottingham. When first deciding to go to college I asked countless people about their advice for attending college. Almost every person I talked to said they wish they had taken the opportunity to study abroad, so I decided to make use of the opportunity the business school offers. I chose this specific program because I had never been outside the United States before, so to make that process easier, I decided to go to a country that spoke English. When I was finally enrolled, I was incredibly excited to take the opportunity to travel and learn a little bit more about the world.

I arrived in the United Kingdom on September 2nd. Before arriving I had messaged a former student from A&M, so I met up with her. Her name was Jennifer Smith, a former student from Texas A&M and Mays Business School. She offered to take my bags while I traveled around London, where I saw several historical sites. My favorite had to be the Tower of London, a fortification next to the river Thames with a rich history dating back to the 11th century. While walking around the city, I started to notice the differences between cultures. In big cities across the US there always seems to be a sense of urgency, but even in London, it seemed very relaxed. Another cultural difference was the pubs. After work, every day, people would leave work to immediately go to a pub to relax. Which is crazy to me as a college student. After running around London for the week, I decided to go and cross off a couple of items off my bucket list by visiting Stonehenge and the Roman baths. When I got to the city of Bath I met a German in one of the hostels. We traveled and talked extensively about politics and cultural differences. This opened up another perspective about the world that I had never thought about. After traveling to see these incredible sights, I went back to London to grab my bags and head to my home for the next semester. Upon arriving, I met another former student Matt Triggs. He took me around Nottingham and gave me a list of famous sights to visit. After I spent a couple of days in Nottingham, I decided to travel up to Edinburgh in Scotland before school started. When I arrived, I traveled to the local castle, where I learned about the incredible history that Scotland had to offer. After visiting locations around the UK, I headed back to Nottingham and moved into my dorm for the semester.

When I reached campus, I was welcomed with open arms by the University. It turned out that I was there a couple of days early, so I took the opportunity to explore campus and see where I am currently living. The University is different and offers a good amount of diversity between campuses. Recently I met some of the other international students, some of which are from South America and the Middle east. It was great to compare our life experiences and bond over being in a new place. Though we haven’t known each other for very long, we go daily to the University pub (which A&M would never have) to hang out. I am currently signed up for the Waterpolo team (which I’ve never played), and the Italian society (because Italian food is good). Classes haven’t started yet, but I’m excited to meet more students and see how they compare to Texas A&M.

Howdy everyone,

I have been in the United Kingdom for about three weeks, and I can honestly say that I am loving my time here! I am currently staying in a dormitory at the University of Nottingham where I will be participating in a semester exchange program and even living here is so completely different than back in the states. From the food served (definitely miss my mom’s Mexican dishes and Taqueria El Sol in Bryan) to the slang used, it has been quite an experience being able to get accustomed to everything here.

I arrived in London, England around 3 weeks ago at Heathrow Airport on a Monday early morning and IMMEDIATELY decided to spend the day traveling and enjoying my time around the great city, even though I was experiencing serious jet lag and had not slept at all. The airport was around an hour bus ride to Central London (where I had booked an Airbnb) but it was so worth it, as I was able to see the transition of the great plains to busy roads the closer we got to London. As soon as I got to my Airbnb, I quickly showered and headed to Tower Bridge, where I had lunch at a famous diner near the Shakespeare’s Globe. I spent that day walking as much as I could in the 8 hours that I had, making sure I Facetimed my parents every once in a while to try and make them experience what I was doing.

Following day – UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DAY! For those that know me, know that I am a huge football fan, and one of the clubs that I support is Chelsea F.C., and I had the opportunity of attending the first Group-stage match against Zenit F.C. It was so odd to so many people that I spoke to in the stadium how I was able to get a ticket; I was sitting on the best section of Stamford Bridge next to fans that have access to Sport Passes for the last 30 years (there is a wait-list for people to purchase a Sports Pass of over 15 years, pretty crazy!) Chelsea won 1-0 that day, a memory that I truly will never forget.

That week I had the opportunity of visiting all of the great tourist sites in London, eating amazing food/falling in love with fish and chips, attended football stadium tours and British museums, and had a 1-day getaway trip to Oxford. To be honest I had no idea how big Oxford and its colleges are, and how gorgeous their architecture is.

Now that I am at the University of Nottingham, I am making sure to be able to explore the city as much as I can, meet new friends, and get ready for school. Our university gave us 2 weeks of “Howdy Week” which are meant for first-year students to get accustomed to the university and attend events to meet new people, and I took advantage of that. I have friends that are from many countries in Europe and Latin America, and I think that is one of the best things to have while studying abroad, even than traveling a lot. My friend-group likes to call ourselves, “The International Group”, because of how diverse we are – there’s an American, Mexican, Chilean, Peruvian, British/Spanish, and Italian.

University begins on October 4th here, which is so odd to me because I have been texting friends from back home and a lot of them had exams already, and I am barely starting next Monday. Overall I am having such a good time here, and I can’t wait to have way more experiences and create many memories.